In an interview with The Michigan Daily, University President Mary Sue Coleman said she is not a candidate for the NCAA presidency, though many news outlets are reporting she’s still on the short list for the job.

When NCAA President Myles Brand passed away on Sept. 16, there was much speculation over who would succeed him. At the time, many media outlets reported that Coleman was likely among those being considered for the position.

However, in an interview with The Michigan Daily last week, Coleman said she is not in the running for the position.

“I can tell you definitively, I am not a candidate,” Coleman said.

Though Coleman has never previously stated that she would be interested in the job and has also never said she was being considered for it, last week’s statements marks the first time she stated explicitly that she isn’t a candidate for the position.

After a Board of Regents meeting in September, Coleman didn’t say whether she was interested leaving the University for the NCAA, instead only saying that she was grateful for her position at the University.

“You know, newspaper people will speculate,” Coleman said with a laugh at the time. “I’m very happy here. Very, very happy.”

And while she didn’t throw her name into the running when she talked with The New York Times in October, Coleman did tell the paper that the next NCAA president should be a university president from a school with a Division 1 athletic program.

“I am deeply engaged at the University of Michigan,” Coleman told the Times in October.

Last month, The Associated Press reported that the NCAA search committee intends to have a successor named by this summer and in place before the start of the next academic year.

Those currently being reported as candidates for the post include University of Georgia President Michael Adams, who hasn’t yet definitively denied his interest.

“We’re Georgians. We love it here,” Adams told the AP of his family. “My family is happy here, and if the regents will let me stay, I expect to be here. Is that clear enough?”

Penn State University President Graham Spanier is also rumored to be on the short list of candidates, though he has denied he is being considered.

University of Miami President Donna Shalala, who served as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services for eight years under President Clinton, has also been reported as a possible candidate.

“I am not a candidate and really have no interest,” Shalala told the AP in an e-mail. “I am sure there are good candidates.”

University of Hartford President Walt Harrison may be one of those candidates. He is one of the only names being rumored as a candidate who has reportedly expressed interest in the position.